The present invention relates to a vehicle monitoring system, and more particularly, to a vehicle system which automatically records data regarding vehicle travel and which interfaces with a remote data processing system for analysis and storage of the data.
It is often desirable to monitor and record information regarding the time and distances traveled by a motor vehicle. This information can be useful for tracking vehicle maintenance or fuel requirements. Further, if the vehicle is used for both personal and business travel, it is desirable to monitor and record the business mileage for tax purposes.
It can be tedious and time-consuming to log vehicle travel data manually, since the operator must write down the vehicle mileage and travel time each time a trip is taken in the vehicle. In addition, since manual logs require operator initiative in recording information, it is easy for the operator to forget to record an item of data when preoccupied with driving or with other distractions on the road or in the vehicle, thereby leading to inaccurate recordkeeping.
Vehicle data collection systems have been developed which record and store travel information as the vehicle is operated. However, these systems have traditionally displayed or printed travel data from the vehicle unit. The printing or displaying of data from the vehicle unit adds to the size and complexity of the unit, thereby increasing the amount of space occupied by the unit in the vehicle. Further, these systems have traditionally not included any means for analyzing or generating reports based upon the travel data.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a vehicle monitoring system which will automatically record and store travel data for each vehicle trip without the need for operator input. Further, it is desirable to have a computerized reporting system as part of the vehicle system for analyzing, storing and generating reports on travel data. Further, it is desirable to have a computerized reporting system that is remote from the vehicle unit, so that the space occupied by the vehicle unit is minimized. Further, it is desirable to have a convenient method for transferring travel data from the vehicle unit to the remote reporting system.